Speedometer makes noise

[JimNolan]

Guys,
   My speedometer head makes a scraping noise like something is out of round hitting a high place on a metal case. It's irritating, it's loud and the frequency is directly propotional to increase of speed. The speedometer needle jumps around during this time. When the car's interior temperature goes up the scraping noise goes away and the speedometer needle is steady. I don't have this trouble until the temp gets around 32 degrees and below. During the summer I don't have this trouble. The speedometer cable is not at fault, it's new and lubed with speedometer grease. The trouble seems to be in the speedometer head.
   When you first start the engine it's best if you just let it idle and turn on the heat and wait until the car's interior warms up before you take off.
   Has anyone else had this trouble and if so how did you fix it. Thanks, Jim

[briney]

Jim,

I know this sounds weird, but reach up under the dash and loosen the speedometer cable about a 1/2 turn to 1 turn where it connects.  Drive it and see if it stops.

Patrick / Dallas TX   

[JimNolan]

Briney,
    I did what you said and it didn't help. But, I found out that if I turned the cap counter clockwise about ten times and pulled out the cable from the speedometer housing the noise went away while driving. The only time the speedometer is right though is when you've come to a complete stop. I don't feel like working on it now so I'm leaving it like that. Today we went for a drive and the noise didn't go away after the car warmed up. I've got other things to work on that's more important anyway.
   Thanks Briney, it was worth a shot.

[JPotter57]

May be a bad cable, Jim.  Make sure the cable housing hasnt got onto a hot exhaust pipe and melted.  Barring that, you may have a bad speedo head.  If that is the case, let me know and I will send you one, I have about 3 I think.

[JimNolan]

James,
   It's not the cable. This things been doing this for the last three years. Every winter it gets like this. No problem during the sping, summer or fall. The cable's new and afixed where it can't get damaged by the exhaust. I've got an extra head and I'll try it when I get the gumpsion to go out and put it on. Thanks anyway. Jim
  Hope you had a good Christmas, mine was great.

[ranchero57]

Hi Jim
I have had the same problem,turned out to be the speedo grease.I squirted the housing nearly full of 90 wt. oil
(with the cable out) and put the cable back in.Cold grease made the cable bind. Campy (RANCHERO57)

[57tudor]

Hi Jim.
I had the same thing happen to me last April going to a car show. My speedo cable was only a few months old, but that wasn't my problem. As I was driving to the show, the noise was coming from the speedo itself. LOUD! After I got home from the show, I removed my speedo assembly from the dash and removed the speedo drive and found the original OEM grease was junk. I removed the small piece if cotten from the oil hole, took some brake cleaner and cleaned out all the old grease and blew it out with compressed air. I then used some KWIK LUBE Spray Lubricant from the KwiKee Products Co. and filled the lube hole several times while rotating the drive with a pocket screw driver. After it was well lubed, I then inserted the cotten and sprayed it with the lube also. I did another seventeen shows this year and my speedo works better then it has in a few years. Hope this sheds some light on your noise problem.

Rick.
57 Tudor

[shopratwoody]

Rick & Campy,
That's good info for me as my speedo started acting up lately. So noisy I took the cable out of the speedo
on the way to the John Force event. I think sitting a long time had something to do with it.
Ron

[JimNolan]

Rick,
   Sounds like you have the problem I do. I'll try you're way of fixing it. Thanks for the info. Jim

[1957-Skyliner]

Guys,
   My speedometer head makes a scraping noise like something is out of round hitting a high place on a metal case. It's irritating, it's loud and the frequency is directly propotional to increase of speed. The speedometer needle jumps around during this time. When the car's interior temperature goes up the scraping noise goes away and the speedometer needle is steady. I don't have this trouble until the temp gets around 32 degrees and below. During the summer I don't have this trouble. The speedometer cable is not at fault, it's new and lubed with speedometer grease. The trouble seems to be in the speedometer head.
   When you first start the engine it's best if you just let it idle and turn on the heat and wait until the car's interior warms up before you take off.
   Has anyone else had this trouble and if so how did you fix it. Thanks, Jim

Mine started to make noices too suddenly, you can hear it here:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgBswaEQOTA

I have found a NOS-speedo on e-bay but greaseing up the original may solve the problem, the car has been sitting for 30 + years before i bought it.

[JimNolan]

Skyliner,
   Boy, this was an old post. The trouble I had was fixed with a new (different) speedometer head. Re-oiling the old one didn't get it. I listened to your video and it sounds just like the one I had. Jim

[1957-Skyliner]

Skyliner,
  Boy, this was an old post. The trouble I had was fixed with a new (different) speedometer head. Re-oiling the old one didn't get it. I listened to your video and it sounds just like the one I had. Jim

yes i know it`s old but i just found this great forum and read all the posts in it.

Thanx for listening !

Anders

[hivolt5.0]

Hey guys,  it is the speedo head that is the problem and as a couple of you have already commented you need to put some lube in the speedo head.  That being said, you can't put just any lube in there, it is supposed to have a special kind of oil.  I talked with a gentleman who restores gauges for a living about it when my speedo started acting up.  He stated the lube had worn out and the sound is metal on metal and he said to remove the cable immediately before any damage occured to the speedo head.  The cure is to oil it. 

After much searching, I ended up using sewing machine oil in my speedo.  The oil is light and does not gum up or attract dirt like other oils have a tendancy to do.  It doesn't take much oil, just a few drops and the speedo will be nice, smooth and quiet once again.  You can purchase the sewing machine oil from (you guessed it) a sewing shop.  I was fortunate in that my neighbor owns a sewing shop and she let me borrow some oil.

[Ford Blue blood]

3 in 1 works very well!

[Frankenstein57]

I'm putting my dash together for my 58, I have 5 or 6 speedos. Some were very hard to spin, and wouldn't move the needle. I gave them a squirt of PB blaster, they came right back to life. Long term I should put some light grease in there. I was working on my clock, didn't work. I took it apart, cleaned it with a little air, some silicone spray, a few carefull taps, 12 volts and wala! I now have a 52 year old working clock. It was celebration time in the shop!   Mark